Group reports rise in incidents of anti-Semitism

Elia Powers

Anti-Semitic incidents in Orange County and Long Beach increased by

nearly 25% from 2003 to 2004, and one-fifth of the reported episodes

in Orange County occurred in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, according

to an audit released by the Anti-Defamation League’s regional office.

Five harassment incidents in Costa Mesa and three in Newport Beach

were reported last year to the league, an organization founded in

1913 in response to anti-Semitism and discrimination against Jews.

The study takes into account vandalism, harassment and threats

against Jewish individuals and institutions.

“There seems to be less sensitivity today, especially in our

schools and in our public discourse,” said Joyce Greenspan, regional

director of the league’s Orange County/Long Beach region. “Anger is

often expressed in ways that are harmful.”

Reported incidents included a mezuzah that was ripped off a door,

swastikas that were sprayed on a wall of a grocery store in Laguna

Nigel and Ku Klux Klan fliers that were distributed to a Costa Mesa

store in August.

Greenspan said she has noticed a rise in cases in which

anti-Semitic slurs were uttered to a person’s face.

Only eight of the 48 reported regional incidents fell under the

category of vandalism in 2004. More than half of the anti-Semitic

reports in 2000 were vandalism-related. Greenspan credits the

decrease to police prevention.

The 48 incidents are the most reported in nine years, according to

Greenspan. The 23% increase in Orange County and Long Beach is 7%

less than the overall statewide increase this year, she said.

Increased outbursts from white supremacists and a cluster of

school-based incidents led to the regional increase, according to a

report released Monday in Costa Mesa.

The announcement came a week after the release of a nationwide ADL

survey showing that anti-Semitic outbursts in the United States are

also at their highest level in nine years.

A total of 1,821 anti-Semitic incidents were reported in 2004, an

increase of 17% over the 1,557 incidents reported the year before.

But over the past several years, there has been a slight decrease

in the number of Americans who hold anti-Semitic attitudes, the

national report showed.

The 2005 Survey of American Attitudes Toward Jews in America, a

national poll of 1,600 American adults conducted last month, found

that 14% of Americans hold views about Jews that are “unquestionably

anti-Semitic” compared to 17% in 2002.

Richard Steinberg, an Irvine-based rabbi, said this is the safest

time in history to be an American Jew.

Still, he said the nationwide and regional increases are worth

noting.

“When there is a nine-year high, you have to put a spotlight on

it,” Steinberg said. “One incident is too much. These audits help

demonstrate the level of intolerance.”

Last year, Steinberg said he received calls from families

reporting a flurry of verbal abuse in schools. He said many of the

anti-Semitic incidents occurred in grades seven through 12.

The regional ADL report points to a series of anti-Semitic

incidents at UC Irvine as one of the reasons for last year’s

increase.

Hillel Foundation of Orange County Executive Director Jeffrey T.

Rips said he cannot recall any blatant anti-Semitic acts happening at

UC Fullerton, Chapman University or UC Irvine in recent months.

He said he has noticed an increase of anti-Israeli sentiment.

“I believe there is a strong correlation between the two,” Rips

said.

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at

elia.powers@latimes.com.